THE PRACTICE
The sharp increase in the number of unac-
companied and separated children arriving in
Germany in recent years created a considerable
burden on child protection and guardianship
authorities. The local authorities responsible
for these services have experienced considera-
ble human resource shortages. In 2015, some of
them had no previous experience working with
unaccompanied and separated children, espe-
cially adolescents and young people, so there
was a need for additional training and a reform
of the service provided. The responsible author-
ities have reviewed the issue of involving local
communities and volunteers in the provision
of services, including guardianship services,
and a debate on the strengths and weaknesses
of the different types of guardianship systems
emerged.
[Without my guardian] things would not be good, be-
cause [being] alone is not good. He [the guardian] never
abandons me. [When I am with my guardian] everything
is good [and] I don’t think of my problems... I want [my
guardian] to be with me everywhere I go. [To be] always
together!
17-year-old unaccompanied boy
In light of this situation the Ministry of
Children, Family, Refugees and Integration of
North Rhine-Westphalia (MKFFI) commis-
sioned the Institut für Soziale Arbeit e.V. (ISA) 6
to undertake a study of guardianship practices
used with unaccompanied and separated young
people aged 16 to 18 in the region, evaluating
different types of guardianship services – both
voluntary and professional – and developing
recommendations on how to strengthen guard-
ianship services to better protect children and
young people. The study specifically addresses
the situation of volunteer guardians and pro-
vides guidance to local authorities on how to set
up an efficient system of volunteer guardianship
that ensures training, professional supervision
and monitoring.
The research methodology involved face-to-face
interviews and focus group discussions with
young people, practitioners and professionals
working with child protection and guardianship
services. Of the 38 persons who participated in
the research, 11 were unaccompanied and sepa-
rated young people who had either volunteer or
professional guardians. The remaining 27 were
professionals and practitioners: judicial officers,
guardians (either those employed on a volun-
tary or self-employed basis or those employed
by local authorities or non-profit organisations),
social workers and other professionals from
local child and family services or professional
associations.
The evaluation was conducted in 2015-2016,
and the final report will be published soon. It
provides recommendations for policymakers
and local authorities on how to improve
volunteer guardianship services in the context
of a decentralised child protection system. It
6 _ ISA is a non-profit, non-governmental institute which works in research, training, practice development and policy advice for local
governments.
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